Since my last report the fishing in Blowering Dam has been exceptional. Night trolling with hard bodied lures has accounted for stacks of huge golden perch, with Josh Hodges landing the best golden I have heard of in a while with a 68cm, 24lb golden. A fish that size of any species is a good fish, let alone a golden perch!
Trolling at night is more difficult than during the day as often there is a lot of boat traffic (many of them without navigation lights) so it pays to be cautious. The fish at night use the cover of darkness to come out from their lairs and swim freely in open water. This free swimming nature of the fish extends their strike zone significantly allowing you to run lures away from structure (snagging in the dark is something to be avoided).
Blowering is a noted night trolling location, but other clear water locations also fire up when the sun goes down. Burrinjuck fishes well with the sun long gone whilst our river systems require the right conditions before night fishing become a strong technique.
Our rivers are often turbid, which assist stealthy predators to ambush prey. In very clear water, prey fish such as bony bream are able to see the predators more easily and steer clear of them. However, once the sun goes down, native fish maintain their stealthy approach and pluck off unsuspecting bony bream at will.
A classic example of night feeding from native fish was at Hay last week. We arrived late in the afternoon and had half an hour of light left. The water was crystal clear and also very warm at 25 degrees. We didn’t get a fish until it was too dark to see without torchlight. We fished for three hours using the navigation lights to illuminate the shore and had plenty of bites and landed a few nice fish. The next day the fish bit well early morning and evening but the intense light and heat of the day (38 degrees) saw the fish shut down.
When the water is very warm, early morning and late evening are the peak bite periods, and often fish bite right through the night. If you have ever camped on the river on a balmy summer night, the noise as cod and golden’s splash about can make for a sleepless night. Not for the noise the fish make, but for you staying up fishing all night instead of sleeping!
As we head toward summer, and the opening of the Murray cod season, I have had to increase my prices somewhat, but if you book now for a trip taken before the end of January, and mention that you read the Riverina Sportfishing Report, I will keep my price at the old level, saving you about $100. Murrumbidgee River, Mulwala, Blowering and Burrinjuck are the places to fish at the moment, or if you want the outback adventure I have just gained access into a remote property four hours from Wagga, that is bristling with big fish.
Some of you may have also heard whispers that I am getting a new boat. Don’t worry, the blue Polycraft will still be number one river boat, but I have placed an order for a 5.8m Actioncraft powered by a 150hp Honda. This is a big boat designed for big water. Dave Carter is getting a sister ship for mine and we will be working together to expand Riverina Sportfishing to a three boat operation. Having the big boats will allow us to run corporate days for up to eight clients, improve range & safety on the bigger dams and rivers, and also extend our operations into
barramundi country. The details of the top end trips are yet to be finalised, but they will be a two week adventure of a lifetime.
The new boats are planned to be in commercial survey by the middle of next year, but I am happy to discuss any ideas you may have for a fishing trip, corporate day or top end adventure.
Jamin Forbes
